€3 trillion euro rescue

America and the IMF apply pressure as G20 finance chiefs meet to draw up plan to expand the European bailout fund in preparation for a Greek default

T
he world’s leading economies last night began work on a multi-trillion euro
package to save the eurozone.

G20 finance chiefs meeting in Washington started to draw up a bold plan to
expand the European bailout fund in preparation for a Greek default in early
November.

Sources told The Sunday Times that the US and International Monetary Fund
brought pressure to bear on European leaders to resolve the debt crisis,
which last week led to the biggest share price falls since the height of the
financial crisis in late 2008.

The plan will see vulnerable European banks recapitalised, the €440 billion
bailout fund boosted to as much as €3 trillion and an orderly default of
Greece, although the country is to remain in the eurozone.Speaking from
Washington, Gerard Lyons, chief economist at the bank Standard Chartered,
said leaders were determined to show that when Greece did default, they
could stop the